Aboriginal sale fails to excite

Sotheby’s Monday night Aboriginal art sale in Sydney confirmed the general patchiness of the indigenous market, totalling $668,400 including buyers’ premiums from 110 lots. Clearance rates of 50 per cent by value and 48 per cent by volume compared with 59 per cent by lot and 67 per cent by value for Sotheby’s tightly curated June sale, which bucked the generally dire trend, grossing $1.4 million from 105 lots, including premium.

“It’s a conservative climate and the result was reasonable given that climate," Sotheby’s chairman Geoffrey Smith said. “What is holding the market back is the current export permit requirements. We had overseas buyers who wanted to bid on the Papunya Tula boards in the sale, including the cover lot [Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula’s 1971 Rain Dreaming with Ceremonial Man], but held back. Because there is uncertainty, they won’t commit and it’s artificially controlling the market.

“If these works are so important, why aren’t Australian institutions buying them? They’re not required for white artists like Nolan and Brack’s work from the same time. We should be encouraging depth in collecting."